When the treadmill won't connect

Almost every Bluetooth problem with these pads is one of six things. Each one looks different, and telling them apart is most of the fix.

Nothing shows up in the device list

That list comes from your browser, not from this page, and it only shows devices that are switched on and nearby right now. An empty list usually means one of these:

• The treadmill has gone to sleep. Most pads stop announcing themselves after a few minutes of sitting idle. Wake it up at the panel and try again straight away.
• Something else is already connected to it. These treadmills only talk to one device at a time, so if the phone app is still open in the background, or a paired dongle is active, your pad is already taken. Close the phone app properly — leaving it in the background isn't the same as closing it.
• It's showing up under a name you wouldn't recognise. The list is filtered to names we know. Show all devices removes that filter and shows everything nearby, which is how oddly-named pads get found.

On a Mac, an empty list often means a permission

Chrome needs your permission to use Bluetooth, under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Bluetooth. Without it the list opens, finds nothing, and shows no error at all — which looks exactly like a treadmill that's switched off. Turn it on, restart Chrome, and try again.

There's no Connect button, or pressing it does nothing

That means your browser can't connect to Bluetooth devices. Firefox and Safari can't — and on an iPhone or iPad, every browser is Safari underneath, so installing Chrome there doesn't help. Chrome, Edge, Opera and Samsung Internet can, on a computer or on Android.

There's no workaround for the iPhone. Use a computer or an Android device instead — see the full browser list.

One more thing: the page has to be loaded over a secure connection. That means an address starting https://, so beltcontrol.com is fine. Opening a downloaded copy of the page from your own hard drive isn't.

It connects, then drops out after a couple of seconds

That's some KingSmith pads — the KS-C2 and its relatives — doing exactly what they were designed to do. If something connects and then just listens without saying hello, they hang up within about three seconds. It isn't a fault, and it isn't a range problem.

Belt Control knows the greeting those pads expect, so it shouldn't happen here. If you're seeing it with some other tool, that's why.

It connects, but the belt won't start

This is common on the KS-C2. Four things to check, in order:

• The child lock is on. The pad reports this, and when it does, the app says so instead of giving you generic advice. Turn it off at the panel.
• The pad is asleep. KingSmith pads go into standby after about ten minutes idle, and in standby the motor stops responding — to the app as much as to anything else. Bluetooth stays up, so it connects fine and then refuses every start. The app can spot this (the pad keeps control on its own panel and never sends its settings) and will tell you. Wake it from its panel or remote, then press Start. Disconnecting and reconnecting does not wake it.
• The treadmill's own panel still has control. After a stop, control goes back to the pad itself, and in that state it accepts a start command and then ignores it — the belt just doesn't move. The app takes control back on every start for exactly this reason.
• The pad just refuses, for no visible reason. On a real KS-C2 a start is sometimes turned down twice and accepted on the third try, with nothing different about the third. The app retries a refused start up to three times — only while it's still saying "starting", and never once you've pressed stop or disconnected. That way the belt can't lurch into motion long after the app gave up and you've stepped off.

It's also worth checking the treadmill's own display. An error code there means a hardware problem, and no app can fix that.

The numbers look wrong

Some of them are, and the app tries to be straight with you about which. Many newer pads don't count steps at all. Many older ones don't report calories. And where calories are a rough guess calculated from distance rather than a real measurement, the app marks them and keeps them out of your totals.

On the KS-C2 and its relatives, distance only updates every ten metres or so, so a short walk sits at zero for a while and then jumps. That's the treadmill's reporting pace, not a stalled connection.

Wherever a number is missing, you'll see a dash. We'd rather admit we don't know than invent a number to fill the gap.

It worked yesterday. Why do I have to pick my pad again?

Your browser grants access to one device at a time, and only when you pick it from that list yourself — it won't hand it over any other way. Belt Control remembers your last treadmill and filters the list down to just that one, so reconnecting is a single click, but the list still has to open.

That's your browser's rule rather than ours, and it's a reasonable one for something that can start a motor.